The injury issues that have assailed the Bears’ offense and defense in this early season splashed over into special teams, with punter Pat O’Donnell coming out of the Seattle game with a knee injury and forcing the Bears to sign former Cleveland Browns punter Spencer Lanning.
Lanning, who spent time with the Bears in 2011, was signed Saturday to fill in for O’Donnell against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. To make roster room for Lanning the Bears waived defensive tackle Brandon Dunn, himself a recent roster addition when defensive tackle Ego Ferguson was forced to miss the Arizona game with a knee injury.
The Bears have some firsthand familiarity with Lanning. The former Brown punted five times for an average of 42.2 yards in the Bears’ Dec. 15, 2013 win, twice for a 52-yard average in the teams’ 2013 meeting in preseason, and twice for a 45.5-yard average in the Bears-Browns 2014 preseason game.
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For his career, Lanning has appeared in 32 games over two seasons (2013-14) with Cleveland, punting 177 times for 7,798 yards (44.1 gross average) with 53 placed inside-the-20, 14 touchbacks, 1 blocked punt and 652 return yards for a 38.6 net average. Lanning originally entered the NFL in 2011 with the Bears out of South Carolina. He will wear No. 4.
Dunn appeared in four games over two seasons (2014-15) with Chicago, collecting six tackles and one pass break-up.